Oriental Beauty (Baihao Oolong)
The Most Exotic Champagne Of Tea

Perhaps
the most fascinating of Chinese oolong tea, this high grade Oriental
Beauty (Dong Fang Mei Ren) comes from Taiwan's Hsin Chu county - the
place where it was originally invented.

In the small world of gourmet tea, no other tea amazes and fascinates as much as this one.

She has a great number of nicknames. In this article, we will address her by the names Oriental Beauty and Baihao Oolong.

In the boom year of 2007, a small quantity Tribute Dragon Well tea was auctioned off for the princely sum of $14,000 dollars. Guess which tea ranks a close second? That's right - the Baihao Oolong.

At first glance, the two teas have little in common.

The Tribute Dragon Well tea sits there quietly; her subtle complexity comes through drip by drip. This Hsin Chu oolong tea is all light and rainbow. She commands attention.

Whether you are young or old, newbie or connoisseur, you will love
her. Her sex appeal is universal. She is a beauty to behold,
honey-sweet to taste, and has a bewitching perfume that will mesmerize you for years to come.

One represents the best of Chinese green tea. The other represents the best of Taiwan oolong tea.

One is regarded as the tea of the Zhongnanhai (Chinese White House). The other is regarded as the tea of the English royalty.

It is indeed remarkable that the commercial value of this tea was first appreciated by Westerners. Legend has it that Queen Victoria drank it out of a crystal glass. She was so stunned by the beautiful dancing colors that she called this oolong tea the Oriental Beauty.

The tea was awarded the Silver medal in the World Food Exposition
held in England at around 1960. Queen Elizabeth II was said to be
impressed.

The Secret

What's the secret of her irresistible charm?

She is versatile. You can drink her iced or hot.

She is the tea from the angels, playing with the frequency of the harp, so high and pure that it resembles that of Champagne.

(In the Far East, she is known as the Champagne Oolong.)

But hey, wait a minute, that is not her secret. Her real secret is actually a humble insect called the leafhopper, which looks like a cricket.

Young Tea Buds

Here is another mystery of this tea.

Unlike the other oolong teas, which are made from relatively matured
leaves, Baihao Oolong is made from young tea buds, which contain the
highest levels of antioxidants and other goodness.

Matured leaves contain high levels of aromatic oils. But tea buds contain very little aroma. So where does she derive her angelic perfume?

Leafhopper!

You see, insects are not all bad.

When leafhoppers chew on those juicy tea buds, they deposit a tiny
amount of saliva. This oolong tea has the highest level of oxidation,
which transforms the saliva and tea chemicals into honey-sweet fruity
flavors.

Put it another way, the more insect bites there are, the higher the
tea quality. Leafhoppers get the juice, we get the fragrance.

This is real ecology in action. This is the secret of Oriental Beauty.

Because of this, the tea garden has to be 100% pesticide free, and you can be assured of an organic cup of tea!

Hsin Chu County

While this tea was invented in Hsin Chu county, it is now grown
throughout the world (Taiwan, China and even India). As is the case
with many famous teas, the highest quality is still to be found in the
cradle.

There are two reasons for this.

Compared to other regions of Taiwan, which are situated at higher altitudes, Hsin Chu county is hot and humid.

Leafhoppers love it. The leaves are bitten more often and are therefore more aromatic.

The second reason is more subtle.

Making Baihao oolong tea takes a lot of skill. She is the most heavily withered and oxidized of oolong teas. The entire manufacturing process is long and arduous. And frankly, nobody does it better than the Hsin Chu veterans.

Introducing AAA Grade!

This AAA Grade Oriental Beauty tea comes from Hsin Chu county. She was harvested in the summer months of July 2008. She comes in a 20 gram packet.

Baihao oolong tea has great intensity of flavor, so she is best taken only
a small amount at a time. The dry tea is puffy and takes up a lot of
space, so unless you have an enormous cup, you should naturally be
using a small amount each time.

She is heavily oxidized (up to 60% to 85%) and has been slightly
roasted. So she keeps fresh easily and is suitable for collection as an
aged oolong.